Role of Volunteering in Community Service

By; Giwa-Ayilara Demola

Volunteering is an organic activity which has been happening for so many decades. The social anthropological studies which have been carried out on primitive tribes in the last 50 years continue to describe egalitarian societies where kinship groups and social groups are formed on the basis of sharing limited resources, having mutual interests and being lead by collective action. Before the establishment of the welfare state, families and neighbours supported each other’s health and social care as a response to unmet needs with their communities.

“It has only been because of mutual support and mutual action that people have been able to survive across the generations. In fact in the 19th century it was the mutual groups that created the embryo of the welfare state” (Rt Hon David BlunkettMPCreative Extremists Conference NI, 2009)

A community development framework must offer a clear structure around which volunteering can be positioned and recognised, as a way of achieving successful community development. It is important that people are given the opportunity to identify their own needs and desires, to take action to exert influence on the decisions which affect them and to be facilitated to find ways to improve the quality of their ownlives, the communities in which they live, and societies of which they are a part.

Research has shown that the most effective and sustainable community development programmes are those which involve local people at all stages. The times of sending random peopleinto communities, especially paid staff to do things to a community rather than support them to do things for themselves has shown to be an ineffective model. Local people are more likely to invest in a program of work and be actively engaged with it if they are given ownership and meaningful ways of being involved. 

In the general perspective, the concept of volunteering refers to rendering of service by choice of or free will for the benefit of the wider community by an individual, group, or institution without necessarily expecting monetary gain in full knowledge and appreciation of being a volunteer.

Volunteers as individuals and groups contribute to the process of community development “by committing time and energy for the benefit of society and the community, the environment or individuals outside or in addition to ones immediate family. It is undertaken freely and without concern for financial gain.” (Department for Social Development, 2011)

Role of volunteering in community service.

Volunteering is relevant to all aspect of life and volunteers are making a positive impact on economic, social, cultural and environmental issues. Volunteering can empower people and communities to fulfill their potential and contribute to socialchange. It can also lead a greater sense of ownership of betteringtheir community. Local people hold the insight and knowledge of local issues which is useful when planning programmes of work with community development professionals.‘’Constructive engagement can lead to positive developments in terms of health, job creation, innovation and crime prevention ‘’(Davis, 2007). Volunteering itself is good for individual health and the more engaged communities are as a collective, the healthier they become socially and economically (Volunteering England, 2008). Volunteer activity provides a network of social relationships that connect people to each other and theircommunities. It is this connection that is vital to building democratic, healthy and self sustaining communities.

Voluntary organizations are key players in the economy in their own right as employers and service providers, adding to the overall economic output of a country and reducing the burden on government spending. The sector also plays a key role of creating the conditions where the economy can flourish by investing in people through training, boosting skills and improving the employability of people on the margins of the labour 
market.

The volunteering makes a significant contribution to the economy all around the world.

“According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies 2011, approximately 140 million people in the 37 countries engage in volunteer work in a typical year. If those 140 million volunteers comprised the population of a country, it would be the 9th largest country in the world. Those 140 million volunteers represent the equivalent of 20.8 million full-time equivalent jobs. It‘s estimated that volunteers contribute around $400 billion to the global economy annually. These estimates are produced using data on hours volunteered or the wage-based dollar value. One interpretation that could be given to this wage-based estimate is that it reflects what users of volunteer labour would have had to pay if they had had to hire the labor that instead was freely given to them”.

The Community Development process is underpinned by five key values, these are (1) Strengthening social connections (2)Building strong, safe, cohesive community, (3) Enhancing civic engagement, (4) Equality and Anti-discrimination and(5) Delivering public goods and services. Volunteering is one of the main ways in which the principles of community development work are realized.

Strengthening social connections

The volunteering plays as the bridge of different parts in the society, which concerned of benefits and demands for different social sectors. Most of the voluntary organizations (91.7%) in a survey by (United Nation Volunteers) UNV reported some form of 

collaboration with other organizations, government and private sector following the SDGs 17. The nature of collaboration on volunteering includes: community partnership, networking, advocacy, funding, support, and invitation to participate in events. Many voluntary organizations also share information with local government and community to push forward community services, including department of education, environment, and energy and so on. This illustrates the crosscutting nature of volunteering throughout and between the different sectors.

Building strong, safe, cohesive community

Through co-operation with government, enterprise, community, the voluntary sector is key partners in the regeneration of deprived communities. The service sector contributes significantly to building community cohesion – creating links and social networks in communities, giving people the opportunity to come together and develop social network, for example, through sports, voluntary arts and youth clubs, institutional co-operation and community identification. Volunteering helps to foster greater trust among citizens and developing norms of solidarity and reciprocity that are essential for stability. The service sector would also help build a safer community and reduce crime. In a study by Putnam (2000) it reported strong inverse relationships between levels of voluntary membership and crime. He found a strong negative correlation between his measure of social capital and homicide. Kawachireported strong negative correlations between measures of voluntary membership and assault, robbery and burglary in the United States (Kawachi, 1999; Kawachi 2000).

Enhancing civic engagement

Alexis de Toqueville (1988), in his classic study of American democracy, saw volunteering is a form of civic engagement through which individuals can make meaningful contributions to their own visions of societal well-being. volunteering increases people‘s confidence in ability to work with local government or state government to meet a range of community needs, such as fixing a pothole or getting an issue on a statewide ballot. People also feel more civic obligations, and are more active in participating in various civic activities, including voting in elections and serving on a jury. The National Survey on Volunteerism of Kenya reports that volunteering helps build a confident, democratic Kenya. With a strong ethos of volunteer management, voluntary organizations have embrace ideals of civic participation and active citizenship. The service sector promotes the involvement of people in the lives of communities and wider society through its projects and through volunteering. Volunteering itself has been about people who step forward to help others whose lives are very different from their own, without judgment or prejudice, to work with people affected by drug or alcohol misuse, people with mental health problems or those affected by war and conflict. Volunteering has thus been a way of creating a climate of optimism, hope and a confident Kenya.

Equality and Anti-discrimination

Challenging oppression and promoting diversity is an important aspect of community development. Volunteering help in promoting good community relations by encouraging honest and open dialogue, enabling people to have a better understanding of and respect for each other’s views and opinions, accept people for who they are irrespective of believe or ethnic group. It works at grass roots level to ensure that all residents of the communitycan live together in a safe, pleasant, vibrant and shared community where everyone feels equal and welcome.

Delivering public goods and services

Volunteering can provide excellent public goods and services, especially that not available (or not available in sufficient amounts) due to both market and government failure. The assumption here is that volunteering fills gaps in the supply of goods and services that are desired by their beneficiaries, but are not available from either private commercial or public sector providers. And even if they are available, some members of society may not be able to access them because of binding budget or other constraints (e.g. imperfect 

information). Voluntary organizations have contributed to planning and designing of 

service delivery through powerful advocacy to ensure that services meet the needs of 

specific groups or individuals. Such service includes 

• Pipeline to public service careers

• Support to the youth education

• Lead in sustainable development

• Response to climate change

Impacts of community service on Volunteers

“There is a saying that volunteers don’t get paid not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless” (Voluntary service overseas) VSO.  Volunteering has certain positive impact on the volunteer, such as social recognition, better health and self-esteem, building résumés, training and career enhancement; economic benefits and capacity in the labor market. Service sectors provide volunteers with the opportunity to explore different career paths, gain job-related skills, develop leadership skills, and network with community leaders, while engaged in activities that strengthen communities.

According to the 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP), more than three quarters (79%) of volunteers said that their volunteer activities helped them with their interpersonal skills, such as understanding people better, motivating others, and dealing with difficult situations. Just over two thirds (68%) of volunteers said that volunteering helped them to develop better communication skills (63%) reported increased knowledge about global issues and issues related to their volunteering. The percentage of volunteers who reported gaining specific skills as a result of volunteering increased steadily with the number of hours they contributed.

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